M–54
Norristown, PennsylvaniaUnited States

1957 chrystler 300 c

“field ranger”

1966 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Turbo Sport Coupe model

“Junkyard Refugee”

Head to Head

About “field ranger”

this is my amt ertl 300c made to look like shes been in the airzona desert for quite some time until now only acceping challanges from other models since this is a model thanks for looking!

About “Junkyard Refugee”

As a hobby, I build car models. Rarely do I build a model directly from the box - A big part of the fun for me is to modify it to make it more realistic. I add details, change parts, generally make it my own. One thing I really like to do is to rebuild older "Annual" kits, those models that were released back when the actual car was brand new and in the showroom. That's what I had planned for this one. It's an actual 45-year-old model that I found on eBay. Some kid had put it together back in the 60's, and he did a lousy job of it! It looked bad in it's eBay advertisement, but that didn't prepare me for what I found when I opened the box: It was BAD! The first thing that came to my mind was that it was the model equivalent to one of those broken-down heaps you see in front yards in the suburbs and rural areas everywhere you go with a "For Sale" sign in the windshield. Major light bulb moment! That's what I'd do with the thing! I disassembled it and stripped the paint, and found out that it wasn't as bad as I thought, but there was still some body damage that I'd have to repair so I went ahead with the project. The end result is what you see here.

(It's "For Sale" sign is yet to come!)

Specs for “field ranger”

No specifications listed.

Specs for “Junkyard Refugee”

AMT 1966 Chevrolet Corvair Corsa Sport Coupe 1:25 scale model kit

Factory Options for “field ranger”

No factory options listed.

Factory Options for “Junkyard Refugee”

(This is the way I would have ordered the car. Some of these "Options" are invisible on the model, of course, so you just have to take me at my word that they're there!)

Mods for “field ranger”

No modifications listed.

Mods for “Junkyard Refugee”

This entire model is a modification!
In the interior I added a turn signal stalk, dimmer switch, sun visors, the dome light, (shabby, torn-up) carpeting, seat belts. I replaced the badly out-of-scale shifter with one I made from a ball-head straight pin. The inner trim panel on the passenger door is the one that came on the junkyard door; It's black in an otherwise red interior. The top of the back seat and the driver's seat cushion are patched with duct tape - I used silver pinstriping tape to simulate this. The car's original wheel covers are in the front passenger side footwell, and the air exhaust grille and air cleaner are in the back seat.

Outside, there's the obvious paintwork and the mis-matched trunklid and passenger side door, painted different colors to simulate junkyard replacements. There are several aluminum patch panels in the quarter panels, fenders, and floorboards, made by adding small scraps of styrene sheet stock and covering it with aluminum Bare Metal foil, which I also used on the window trim and rain gutters. The model has mis-matched wheels and tires; aluminum slotted magwheels and wide tires on the back and stock steel wheels and bald bias ply tires up front. I added valve stems to all four wheels, The "Corvair" badge from the 1965 junkyard trunk lid is missing - I drilled out it's mounting holes. The door handle and lock cylinder are missing from the junkyard door, but I added the mounting holes for them, too. The radio antenna is gone, replaced by a bent wire clothes hanger. The driver's side high beam is also missing, but it's wires dangle from the empty headlight bucket. All four taillight lenses are missing, but I added the taillights themselves to back up where the lenses would ordnarily go.

In the engine bay, the battery is long gone, showing the rust holes in the battery tray. I did add the battery cables though. I also added a very bald spare tire on a bracket that I had to add too. The driver's side carb is sitting cockeyed on it's mounting studs. The distributor cap with it's spark plug wires is sitting loose on top of the top shroud of the engine as is the broken fan belt - more parts I made for the model. I also added the engine lid strut, latch, and license plate light.